You Said You's Never Lie to Me
by MerchDoyle
Summary: Your dad's a rock, and your best friend likes to set himself alight... yeah, that sounds normal...not! Especially when you find you're not so normal yourself. Only your dna was faulty since birth..., please read.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I own nothing, only the non-F4 characters.

A/n this fic is set after the movie. Maria isn't a part of the F4-ers, she's just normal – or is she? It's a Ben/Maria fic, exploring their relationship and stuff like that, this that I didn't delve into in my last two fics.

Yeah, sorry about the end of Fantastic 5, I thought it was cool. Unexpected, so I went for it… don't how this one will end. I have two ideas, happy and sad, don't know which one I will go for yet… This is a tribute to someone, a prize for the first person to twig (well, not really). But it will be interesting if anyone does get it…

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"Maria Grimm?" the man behind the desk asked the young girl sitting on the other side, "A relation to Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four?" he asked.

Maria sighed inwardly, and looked at his name tag. "Well, Steven, if I were to say yes, will you accept me?" she asked.

Steven smiled, "Would he clobber me if I turned you down?" he laughed a little, but stopped when he realised it wasn't a duet. "Ok," he said. "Let's get on with the interview shall we," he asked, picking up the young girls references, and began asking her questions about her hobbies and what work she had done in the past.

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"I told you to stay away from us!" BenGrimm shouted at the other person on the other side of the phone before hanging up.

"Prank call?" he heard Johnny storm's voice behind him, and turned to see him grinning at him. "It works better if you just play along, they get bored because they don't get the reaction the want, and hang up," he said.

Ben didn't know whether Johnny was speaking from experience of being the one answering the phone, or being the pranker, either way he didn't care. That wasn't a prank call, but he didn't want to tell the young hero that. Knowing him he'd blow it out of proportion, and go and tell everyone. Everyone including Maria, and he really didn't want her to find out-at least that way anyhow. Ben remained silent, then nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'll try that next time," he sad gruffly, and stalked past the Human Torch.

Johnny shrugged, wandering if he'd ever get the bug out of him butt. He turned on his heel and walked after him, "Where did you say her interview was?" he asked, "Maria I mean."

Ben didn't stop walking, he just said "The University," he said, turning left on his way to Reeds laboratory.

Johnny walked in a different direction, making his way to his room. After picking up his car keys, the made his way to the exit.

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"Maria! Maria!" she turned towards the direction the voice was coming from and saw Johnny's red car parked in the space by the main entrance on the University.

"What are you doing here?" she asked walking up the car, seeing the passenger window open.

Johnny frowned, "Picking you up," he stated. "You know, like I always do?"

Maria rolled her eyes, "You mean like you used to," she said sounding a little down. "Before you turned into a fireball," she said.

Johnny smiled sympathetically, he knew it was true. "Doesn't mean I can't pick you up now though, does it?" he asked, gesturing for her to put her things into the car.

Maria smiled, and opened the door, sliding in.

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"You don't talk to me anymore," Johnny said. They had been driving for the last five minutes, and she hadn't uttered a word. Maria just shrugged, her head was resting against the window on her right. She'd put a scarf between the glass and her head to stop it from bouncing with the car's movement. "What, you think I'm too cool for you now?" he joked, but still she didn't answer. "How'd the interview go?" he asked another question, hoping she'd answer.

Lady luck seemed to be on his side, she did. "Yeah, it was ok," even if it was only four words, it was still answer.

"Did you get accepted," he asked, hoping to get more out of her.

"I don't know yet" she replied, again only saying four words.

Johnny didn't know if she was only using four words as a jibe at him and the other three, of if she was generally giving him the silent treatment. Either way it was really annoying him. "Ok, that's it!" he said in a voice that sparked Maria to look at him somewhat alarmed.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, noticing him hitting the indicator and turning right when they should be turning left. "Where are we going?" she asked, but this time it was her turn to be on the receiving end of the silent treatment.

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Reed listened as Ben described the phone call he had received, "So what does this mean?" he asked his friend.

Ben just stared at him, "It means it's begun…" he said simply.

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A/n – This is a repost, because I somehow deleted my last version...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: So far I only own Maria, so hands off! Don't own the F4 characters, so yeah…

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"Where are we going?" Maria asked Johnny. They'd completely left the city now, and the freeway. "Johnny, tell me now!" she screamed at him, shaking his arm.

Johnny ignored her, keeping his hands firmly on the steering wheel. He indicated, and turned left down a country road. He glanced at her quickly, she'd given up harassing him, and had gone back to resting her head on the window, looking at the scenery with a somewhat pained expression on her face. 'Wait, pained?' he thought, and looked at her again. She now had her eyes closed, as if the sunlight was hurting them. He looked outside and made sure the was no one around, and he pulled into a lay-by.

"We're here," he said, looking at her, hoping her face would smooth out, and he was worried over nothing. Maria lifted her head and looked out the front window, her face showing nothing of the pain that was etched across it before 'Whew!' Johnny thought.

"Where are we?" she asked sighing.

Johnny smiled a little, "You don't remember?" he asked. "Come on, it was only last summer!" he said.

Maria looked around, and then opened the door, stepping out. She slowly breathed in the air, and closed the door.

Johnny got out of the car too, and closed it walking around the car to join Maria. "I know it looks a little different," he said, "They cut down some of the trees," he observed.

Maria stared at him, "They've cut down all the trees!" she, and laughed a little. "And they've filled in half the lake!" she cried staring at the once crystal clear lake, now muddy and rocky. "Why did you bring me here?" she demanded, looking at Johnny accusingly.

"Hey, Maria, what are talking about?" he looked at her. Her green eyes were glazed with anger.

Maria looked away from him, and saw he was right, only some of the trees were cut down - but she'd just seen all of them, hadn't she?

She shook her head, feeling dizzy. Johnny saw her sway, and put his arms around her waist. "Hey, you ok?" he asked, pulling her closer to him. She laid her head on his chest, and he wrapped his other arm around her. His arms went nearly twice around her body, 'when did that happen?' he thought to himself. He stroked her brown hair, it was soft, "New shampoo?" he asked, trying to break a tension he could feel surrounding them.

Maria lifted her head from his chest, and moved away. Johnny slowly dropped his arms down to let her move away. She ignored his questions and moved to sit on the grass in the shade a of a nearby tree. Johnny slowly followed her, and sat beside her.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

Maria shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about," she said flatly.

Johnny nodded, "Why don't we talk anymore?" he asked again, feeling like a broken record. "And what just happened?" he asked his voice stressed.

Maria closed her eyes, then snapped them open, "We don't talk anymore because you're now a hot head, literally!" she half shouted. "I don't know how to talk to you, I mean one minute you're my best friend and we hang out all the time, the next you're a superhero who's hell bent on saving everyone!" she got to her feet. "My dad is a rock, and I'm supposed to be ok with that?" she asked, feeling a brief pang of guilt. "My life has gone from sort of ok, to totally unreal, and no one has asked me if I'm ok," she was becoming hysterical now.

Johnny got to his feet slowly, "Hey, calm down," he put both hands on her shoulders.

She looked at him, "You're supposed to ask me if I'm ok," she said weakly.

Johnny looked down at her, her eyes had now filled with tears. "Are… you… ok?" he asked her slowly.

The tears Maria had been holding in began to flow down her face, her face crumpled as she shook her head, leaning into Johnny and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as she cried.

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End of chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: I only own Maria, not the F4 characters though, I'm not that rich…

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"What did he say?" Reed asked Ben about the phone call.

"I've already told you," his friend replied, "He said that if I don't tell her, he will, but how can I tell her?" he stressed and shook his head.

Reed put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll get through it," he said.

The two were silent when Sue walked into the lab with coloured paper. "Which one?" she held up the swatches for Reed to choose. "Well?" she pressed. He seemed excited enough last night when they talked about doing up their room to make it more personal, now he was just… well, uninterested… "What?" she asked after a while, the two men looked at her solemnly, "Oh no… Is Doom back?" she asked.

Reeds features softened, he couldn't help but smile, "No," he said, "He's still in Latveria," he said.

Sue looked relieved, "So why the long faces?" she was still confused.

Reed looked at Ben, "We have a problem," Ben started, his voice gruffer than usual. "Well, I have a problem," he corrected himself. "There's this man, he keeps calling claiming to be Maria's grandfather," he said.

Sue's eyes widened, "But I thought your dad-"

"Her mother's father," he said breaking her off. "He's hell bent on telling her about her origin."

Sue was now even more confused, "What's so shocking about being Irish?" she asked.

"It goes a little deeper than that," he said sadly. "This man, he says that Maria's mum, his daughter, was different," he said.

A frown creased her normally smooth forehead, what was going on? "Different as in how?" she asked.

Ben looked at Reed, "Her mother could… foretell things," he said.

Sue nodded, "You mean like psychic?" she asked.

Ben shook his head, "Not quite," he said. He knew what he was about to tell Sue was incredibly unbelievable, but then again, had someone told him last year that they would all have mutated into superheroes, he wouldn't have believed them, so he gave it a go. "He claims to be a Demon, and says that Maria's mother was a demon," he dropped the bombshell.

Sue's eyes widened, "What? That's impossible," she cried.

Reed couldn't help but laugh, "And you don't turn invisible…" he pointed out.

His fiancé glared at him before looking back at Ben, "She doesn't know?"

Ben shook her head, "I don't even know if what he's saying is true. I've never met the guy before. I don't even know if he is who he says he is," he said.

"So why has her grandfather decided to show up now?" Sue asked, realising that's all she seemed to have been doing since she entered the lab was ask questions. "Sorry, I just need to know stuff, you can't keep secrets anymore," she said.

Ben smiled, "I wish I knew the answers," he said. "Right now I have just as many questions as you do…"

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A/n You have got to know who it's dedicated to by now!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, I never have and never will (unless I win heaps of money and am able to take over the Marvel franchise entirely).

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Maria sat in the front of Johnny's car waiting for him to come back out of Starbucks. Knowing him, he'd have been swarmed by screaming girls by now, and loving every moment of it. It only took a pretty face to make him forget him forget everything…

She was so lost in thought that the sound of the door closing made her jump out of her skin. "Sorry," Johnny apologised, looking guilty. Maria smiled, "I got you a coffee, milk no sugar and a glazed doughnut," he handed her a small container and polystyrene cup.

"Thanks," she took them, hoping she'd managed to control the shaking of her hands a little.

"So, you wanna go home now?" he asked, "Or do you wanna go to the movies or something?"

Maria shook her head, "Home…" she let the word out slowly, "Yeah, I'd like to go home," she said down heartedly. She began to ponder the meaning of the word, home is where the heart is, but why did she feel her heart wasn't there?

Johnny nodded, noticing her expression was glazed with sadness, then wandered whether or not to press her. "You're not in happy place right now, are you?" he asked gently.

Maria smiled a sad one, "You can read me like a book, can't you?" she asked as he pulled out of the parking space they were parked in and headed to the Baxter building.

Maria looked at Johnny, she wanted to tell him everything she was feeling. Her fear of not knowing what was happening to her, her fear of not getting into the University and starting a career. The fear she felt for the safety of her dad, and the rest of the Fantastic Four-ers. She wanted to tell him how left out she felt that she couldn't be apart of it, and had to watch from the sidelines. She wanted to tell him of the fear that gripped her when he jumped off the Baxter building, and pray she said that he didn't hit the ground.

No one had asked her how she felt about all this, and she pondered whether or not to wait to be asked, or to just talk to someone. Johnny often spoke of his need for therapy when he felt awkward around Sue and Reed, when in fact it was probably her who was in the need of the therapy after all.

No one asked her how she felt about her father being made of stone, all they did was crack jokes, asking if it ran in the family. Debbie threw her out after she found out, and it wasn't even Maria's fault, not that she minded much anyway, she and Debbie never got along very well. She felt that Debbie was taking her father away from her… but wasn't Alicia doing the same thing? Maybe, but Maria liked Alicia, she didn't know why, maybe because she was treated like an adult and not a child. Didn't yell at her the way Debbie did, or make her do the washing when it wasn't even her laundry. Or it could even do with the fact that Alicia accepts Ben for being different, as she is also different, and isn't so materialistic the way Debbie was.

"Hey," Johnny touched her arm, bringing her back from the land of her thoughts she was dwelling in. "You gonna eat that?" he asked pointing at her doughnut.

Maria glanced down at her hand, her doughnut was untouched. She put her cup between her knees and divided the doughnut into two pieces, "Race you," she playfully challenged him to the eating game.

Johnny smiled, "No fair," he said. "I'm driving," he stated.

Holding the two halves in the palm of her hand, she took hold of her cup, "Now we're even," she said.

Johnny smiled taking a half, "Ok, on three," he said, slowing his driving down a little so he had more control. Counting up to three the two stuffed their half into their mouth.

"Finished!" each said simultaneously, before erupting into laughter. Maria shook her head slowly and took a sip of her coffee, grimacing as it now had gone cold.

"Let me fix that," Johnny said, sending a tiny fire ball in the cup.

Maria's eyes widened, "You idiot!" she cried, "The cup is melting!" she sat up straight in her seat so fast her seatbelt jerked, causing her to flop back down on the chair.

Johnny quickly grabbed the cup from her hand before she could burn herself, and threw it out the window. With all the commotion going on inside of the car, Johnny failed to see lights had gone red until it was too late.

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End of chapter


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimers: Same as usual, I don't on the F4 characters…if I did I wouldn't be working that damn hating place I do now! Ok, now I'm over that, I will proceed with the story. 

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Sue sat in her and Reeds room looking at the colour swatches, only they were not connected to her thoughts. Her thoughts were somewhere with Ben and Maria, and wandering what was going to happen to their newly made family if that man wasn't going to leave them alone. Or worse still, what if it was true what he said? The poor girl would be made out to be a freak, or maybe experimented on. Then again, that may not be a problem, as they haven't been experimented on yet… they have Reed after all, and who can understand their conditions better than their own scientist?

She shook her head, trying to distil it of all the negativity that had formed inside it, making room for new thoughts, hopefully positive ones.

"I think I like the blue and brown colours," Reeds voice said behind her.

"They're sky and toffee," Sue corrected him instinctively. She'd done that with the magnolia he called cream, the rose he'd called pink, and the charcoal he called grey (they were for the slate tiles she wanted for the kitchen floor).

Reed chuckled, "I'll have to do get more clues up before we start the wedding planning," he said.

Sue sighed, "Yeah," she said, "Our wedding."

Reed sat down by her and took her hand, "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet," he said. "Last night we were talking about the room."

Sue looked at him, "I'm not getting cold feet…" she assured him gently. "I was thinking about Maria, sort of clouded my mind," she said. "Where's Ben?" she asked.

"Gone to see Alicia," he replied, "It's their anniversary of some kind today… three months since their first official date I think he said."

Sue smiled, "Has it really been three months since Doom?" she asked. "And only now we're oing our room," she said.

Reed smiled, "Well, money have been pretty tight…" he said. "We had bills to pay, it's only now we're turning off a decent profit with the Government funding," he said. Sue nodded in agreement. "Speaking of 'whereabout's', where are Johnny and Maria, they should be back by now," he said.

Sue nodded in agreement, "I'll give his cell a call," she got up and pulled out her own cell, and speed dialled her brothers number. "Weird, it's just ringing," she frowned, still holding the phone to her ear.

Reed also frowned, "You hear that?" he asked, looking through the doorway. Sue shut off her phone and listened, then shook her head. "That's because it's stopped," Reed said a little amused, and looked her. He raised his eyebrows, got up off the bed and walked to out the door. Sue followed him out, and down the corridor a little until they reached the kitchen. "Ring him again," he said, and Sue did.

Ringing could be heard coming from the jack Johnny had left draped over the chair, Sue reached into it and pulled it out, it still rung until she shut off her own phone. "I thought he didn't do this anymore…" she said, grinning a little. "What's the point having a cell if you're not going to take it with you?" she asked.

Reed shrugged, "Try Maria's," he said.

She did and shook her head, "Nothing, says it's out of reach," she said. "I'll try Johnny's car phone," she said, and searched her menu to find the phone book. She shook her head again, "Nothing," she said. "What's going on, where are they?" she asked a little worried.

Reed put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sure they're fine," he tried to assure her, but the truth was he was beginning to get a little worried himself.

Sue nodded, then as if on que the phone rang. Her eyes widened and she looked at Reed, then walked slowly to the phone on the wall, "Hello?" she asked into the receiver. She gasped, and he fiance walked to her side. "Ok, we'll be right there," she said shakily, and hanging up.

"What?" Reed asked her, talking hold of her hand.

Sue looked up at him, "That was the hospital," she said. "Maria and Johnny are there," she said slowly.

Reed ran to get their coats and his keys, "Come on," he said re-taking Sues hand and leading her to the elevator. "We'll call Ben on the way," he said at the two entered the elevator.

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	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, if I did the I wouldn't have to do a disclaimer, wouldn't I? Ha ha (ok, maybe not that funny…)

A/n-yeah, it's been like three weeks sine I last updated. An eventful three weeks it has been too… I fell off my motorbike and broke my glasses, so I couldn't type. I also couldn't read the subtitles on the screen when I went to see the Da Vinci Code, and had to watch X-Men 3 all blurry and squinting…lol. I then managed to get the flu because…haha. Anyway, on with the chapter!

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Ben crashed through the swing doors on the exit to the ward where they were told the could find his daughter and Johnny. A doctor (immediately recognising him, and Reed who had just caught up with him, and Sue who was bringing up the rear guiding Alicia) approached him. "Where are they?" Ben asked before the doctor could say anything.

The doctor smiled, and didn't seem phased at all by the celebrities, "You have no need to be alarmed, they are both fine," she said. "They have both suffered minor injuries, nothing serious. Wait here, I will go and get them."

She disappeared and Ben turned to the other three, "If they are both fine then why didn't one of them call?" he asked.

Reed shrugged, "I am sure they will tell us the reason for all the heart attacks they have given us," he said half jokingly, and pointed in the direction behind Ben.

He turned and saw the doctor walking with Johnny and Maria in tow, both sported an expression on their faces that children occasionally wore. Especially children who were worried they were going to get a big telling off of some kind that involved allowance revoking.

"Here they are," the doctor said smiling, "all good to go," she said. "Just both of you take is easy, ok?" she asked them, when they both nodded their reply she smiled, said goodbye and walked away.

There was a short silence before Ben asked "Well?"

Maria looked at Johnny, who returned her look. "They insisted on us to go in the ambulance to get checked out, so we did," Johnny said, in a defensive way. "But we couldn't call you because my car had to be towed, then the police came to talk to us about the red light, and I kept thinking "Sue's gonna be so worried" but I had to wait until we'd been, checked over and questioned," he babbled.

The other four stared at them with wide eyes, "Wait, police? Red light? Questioning?" Sue said, "What the hell have you guys done?" she asked, not knowing to be angry with them or relieved there was nothing wrong with them. "Never mind, forward march, both of you!" she said, "We'll discuss this when we get home!" she pointed to the exit of the hospital. Johnny and Maria just looked at each other, then back at the four angry looking adults. "MOVE!" Sue said sternly, "NOW!"

"Yes ma'am!" Johnny said saluting, and grabbed Maria's hand, pulling her swiftly to the exit with the other four in tow.

As soon as they made their way in the parking lot, the six piled into the van the government have given them to do their bidding. Maria couldn't understand why they were receiving so much from the government, what were the tax payers thinking?

The drive back was silent, Maria hadn't spoken a word since they'd been picked up. Johnny was too afraid to open his mouth in case jokes fell out, he never was one for awkward silences. He kept glancing Maria, who's eyes were constantly focussed on one spot on the floor of the van.

When the six had arrived back the Baxter building, and reached the floor of their rooms, they divided into three's. Johnny went with Reed and Sue. Maria, with Ben and Alicia.

The two young adults knew they'd be in trouble, but they weren't to know that this was just the beginning.

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	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimers: Jeez… I still can't spell that damn word… you'd think of all the times I have spelt it I would, but I don't… I also don't own the F4 characters…

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"I was driving the car, and Maria's cup melted," Johnny was sitting on his desk chair, whilst Reed and Sue sat facing him sitting on his bed. "I took my eyes off the road for a second, I didn't want her to burn herself. I didn't see the red light until… well, we felt a little crash," he said tentatively.

Reed and Sue looked at each other, "Why was her cup melting?" Sue wanted to know.

Johnny grinned sheepishly.

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Maria was also sat in her desk chair, with the other two adults sitting facing her, sitting on her bed, "My coffee had gone cold, and Johnny 'fireballed' it to warm it up for me, then the cup melted," she explained. "He took the cup away before I burnt myself, and that's when he ran the red light," she said. "You see, he didn't mean it, he wanted me to be ok," she said, hoping they'd see the good side.

Alicia and Ben nodded, "So what about the doughnut race?" Ben asked, "Was that really mature to do whilst driving?" he scolded.

Maria looked down at her hands, "Not really," she said, "But he did slow down," she looked at them with a little smile. "No one got hurt, but the ambulance people wanted everyone to get checked out," she explained.

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"So we went to the hospital to get checked out, and had to talk to the cops," Johnny explained, "We sort of need to pay a fine, but no points on my licence," he grinned.

Reed and Sue exchanged looks, "You know we were really worried," his sister said. "Why couldn't you call us?" she demanded.

Johnny's grin left his face, "The nurse called you when we were being questioned, we just thought they'd tell you we were fine," he said defensively. They looked at him in disbelief, "It's true, ask Maria if you don't believe me!" he have shouted.

Reed and Sue looked at each other, "I think we're done here," the older man said. His fiancé nodded, and then took Reed by the hand and led him out of Johnny's room.

Seeing his bed was empty, Johnny got up off his chair and flopped down on his bed. He glanced at his radio alarm clock, 23.45. "What a day," he said to himself, putting his hands behind his head. Thoughts drifted through his mind, he never did find out what had happened to Maria, and why she was so sad. All he knew was that he'd made her laugh, even if it was for a short time, but she still laughed. Something he hadn't seen her do for a long time. He sighed, reached over and switched off his light, then closed his eyes.

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Ben and Alicia had met Reed and Sue in the kitchen to compare the stories they had just heard. "Why do you think the hospital wouldn't let them call us themselves?" Sue asked.

The reply to her question was a shrug from each person. "I don't know," Ben was the first to speak. "Maria said maybe it was to save time because they were in with the cops," he said. "It makes sense, also they may not have wanted to draw too much attention…"

There was silence after that, until Sue asked another question, "Why didn't they take them to the police station?"

"Probably because of the publicity, and hype Johnny would cause," Reed said. "I can't bare to see the papers tomorrow…" he said.

"Or watch CNN," Ben added.

"How's Maria?" Reed wanted to know.

Ben shrugged, "She seems fine… a little pale," he said. "She's surprisingly well though, I thought it would bring all these feeling back, seeing as her parents…you know," he paused, and the other three nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about, "but it hasn't phased her," he mused.

"Nothing ever really does," Alicia said. "She seem, hollow…" she added. A silence followed what she'd just said, "Are you guys staring at me? Because I can feel you're eyes on me…" The three heroes exchanged smiles, and laughed a little. She was right, what she'd said had acquired many strange looks from the other three…

"What makes you say that?" Ben asked his girlfriend.

She shrugged, "I don't know… it's just she seems cloudy… like she's built up walls around herself or something…" she mused.

Ben smiled, she was right, "Maybe I should talk to her," he said, getting up.

"Not right now, she'll be asleep," Alicia said, tugging on his arm to sit back down.

"Maybe it would be a good idea if we all went to bed," Reed said, taking Sue's hand, and she nodded.

Ben got up again, and guided Alice out of the kitchen then on to his room, and Sue switched off the light with her free hand, and let Reed lead her to their room.

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But, Alicia was wrong, Maria wasn't asleep, in fact she was still very much awake, and stared at the ceiling of her darkened room, thinking about what was going to happened the next. Would Johnny tell the others about the incident by the lake? What was happening to her? Maybe she was losing it? She didn't know.

She just stared at the ceiling until she could stare no more, and her thoughts became too heavy for her brain to hold, and sleep came to her.

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End of chapter


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, so go and sue someone else! I am so excited about this story, I got a great idea about a sequel!

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Maria felt the sun's warmth on her face, it was morning, she knew that. What she didn't know was that when she opened her eyes, she'd see Johnny sitting by her bed.

"Morning," he smiled simply, in the silent way he sometimes did that made her smile.

She pushed back her quilt revealing the clothes she had worn the previous day, she hadn't bothered changing for bed. She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked at Johnny. Neither said a word, they didn't need to. The silence told one what the other was thinking.

"So…" Johnny said after a while, breaking the silence.

Maria waited for him to continue, but he didn't. She chose her words carefully, coughing a little to clear her throat, and then took a deep breath giving herself time. "I get nightmares," she began slowly, "only they happened when I'm awake…" she said. Johnny nodded, remaining silent a he knew she wasn't finished. "My head hurts too…" she said, angry with herself at how childish that was. Johnny knew what she meant, he remembered the pained look she had on her face the day before.

"What do you think it is?" he asked slowly.

Maria looked down, she didn't want to tell him her fears, but she knew she had to. She slowly raised her hand and touched her head, indicating a mental disease. When she looked back at Johnny tears had filled her eyes. He got up and sat next to her on the bed, pulling her into an embrace. She let the tears leave her eyes, travel down her cheek and onto his jeans, jeans she noted he wasn't wearing the day before.

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Shortly after her last tear had fallen, Johnny had left her alone so she could get herself together. He had made no comment about her having slept fully clothed, or commented on her morning breath. Perhaps it was because the tow had spent countless nights sleeping and waking in front of the tv, or may be he was just being a gentleman. She smiled as she brushed he hair straight, it was the first one.

She walked into the kitchen, and greeted Sue and Reed who were at the table, forcing her unhappy face to look happy as she poured herself some coffee.

"How did you sleep?" Sue asked her, smiling.

Maria knew she only asked to fill the silence that was forming, a silence that always formed when she was ever in a room with any of them. "Good," she lied to her, and sat down opposite her. "So what are you guys doing today? More wedding plans?" she asked, making an effort also to rid them of a silence threat.

Sue nodded, "Year, well… no," she said. "We're still deciding on the bedroom," she reached and took hold of some swatches, handing them to Maria.

"Ohhh, I like the sky and coffee," she cooed, putting them together, "But the magnolia and rose go nice also…" she mused.

"That is why we are yet to start panning the wedding," Sue said, "My fiancé still calls the brown and blue," she glared playfully at Reed, who just grinned.

Maria smiled, a sipped her coffee, "He's a man, you can't expect too much of them…" she teased.

"Don't label us all useless," came the gruff voice of her father from the doorway. He entered with Alicia in tow, and pulled out a wooden chair for Alice and his own metal chair. "You ok sweetie?" he asked his daughter.

Maria smiled and nodded, "Yeah," she said. "Rather I will be until I see the coverage of what happened yesterday, the paper come yet?" she asked, looking from her father to everyone. The all shook their heads, were they telling the truth? She didn't know… "What about the news?" she asked.

Ben smiled, "Well there have been a few news reports, but none negative…" he told her. "But you know what the tabloids are like, they'll turn it into something manic…" he said, and she nodded in agreement.

"Where's Johnny?" she asked, looking around at the fours faces. She felt victimised all of a sudden.

"Right behind you," came a voice behind her. "You coming?" he asked, jingling what appeared to be a new set of car keys.

Maria eye's widened, "You got 'another' one?" she asked, not making any effort to hide the shock in her voice.

Johnny smiled, "What can I say, the public loves me!" he said, causing the whole five of them to role their eyes. He ignored that, "So, you coming?" he asked again.

"Where?" his question was answered with another.

He had am amusing glint in his eye, "It's a surprise," he said, jingling the keys a bit more.

Maria rolled her eyes, and stifled a laugh, then turned to her father, "Can I?" she asked him.

Ben nodded, "Ok," he said. "But only if you be careful, and no more doughnut races," he scolded playfully.

She smiled, and got up from the chair, bending slightly to kiss the top of her father's head. "Bye," she said smiling to everyone, and she and Johnny exited.

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End of chappy


	9. Chapter 9

Diclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, I also don't own Dr. Redfern, he's a really person (only not as nice as he is in this chapter-kinda pompous in real life..lol)

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"So, where we going?" Maria asked, sitting once again in the front seat of a new car with Johnny. It was identical to his last one, red with a flame stencilled down each side.

Johnny was silent, "Hospital," he said finally, looking at her preparing himself for her anger.

Maria didn't get angry, she just nodded and asked "Why?"

"Don't be mad," he began half pleading, "but after I left you this morning I called the private hospital, and convinced them to do an MRI scan for you." He paused waiting for the information to sink in. "I said you're head was hurting for the accident yesterday, and insisted they do a thorough check for damage," he glanced at her then back at the road.

Maria didn't know whether to be happy or mad by this. It was sweet Johnny cared so much, but what if someone found out? That was why he'd gone private, she knew that. But still, she hated getting preferential treatment because of who she knew. "Ok," she said finally.

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The two remained silent until they reached the hospital. They walked briskly to the department they needed to, avoiding eye contact in fear of Johnny being recognised.

The doctor saw them, and ushered them into the room.

Johnny had to wait outside while Maria was inside the large electromagnet. Luckily she didn't need to change into a gown as it was only her head that was being scanned.

Johnny could hear the machine clicking from where he sat, it sounded loud. 'Must be 10 times worse for her…' he thought. About half an hour later, Maria emerged with a palster on her left arm. She would later tell Johnny it was because she was injected with a dye to make her brain cells stand out.

The two waited patiently for the results. Johnny had insisted they rush it through, Maria felt guilty again because any other person has to wait up to a month for their results (A/n-I had to wait just under a month to get the all clear of a brain tumour…waiting sucks!).

The two then sat in the office of the Neurologist, Dr. Redfern, and listened patiently to what he had to say.

"Normal," he said. "Completely normal," he said upon seeing the look of disbelief on both Johnny's and Maria's faces.

"Does that scan pick up all kinds of Mental Illness?" Maria asked, it was Redferns's turn now to look surprised, "Just out of curiosity," she asked.

The Neurologist smiled, "Well you'd need to be assessed for behavioural problems, and illness such as Schizophrenia," he said. "As for the scan, that mainly picks up abnormalities such as brain tumours, which can cause behavioural problems…" he paused. "Why do you ask?" he prodded.

Maria looked at Johnny, she wanted peace of mind so badly. He nodded and she proceeded to tell the doctor everything.

Dr.Redfern's eyes widened, "Oh," he said. "So the information you gave us was inconclusive?" he challenged Johnny, who reddened.

"Well, bit the part about the accident…" he half smiled.

"We're sorry," Maria piped in, "but if you could just assess me, I'm sure we can work out some sort of agreement," she smiled.

Redfern smiled back, she wasn't one of the Fantastic Four, just a by-stander, but he liked her a lot more than he did Johnny, "What kind of agreement?" he asked.

"We'll donate Johnny's car for an auction to raise money for…" she paused looking around the room for inspiration, the same time ignoring to look of horror that was etched on Johnny's face. "Research on Leukaemia in children," she said as her eyes caught sight of a bald little girl smiling back at her form a poster.

Redfern smiled, he liked that idea. "Ok," he said, "Follow me and we'll get you assessed," he said rising then leaning the way to the psychiatric ward.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, so don't sue.

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It was almost evening before the two friends were on their way home in cab.

Maria had been assessed, and was declared perfectly sane, which in a way was terrific news, but it did not give reason behind her behaviour.

Redfern had come to the conclusion that it was he subconscious yearning to a part of the team, fooling herself into believing that she had powers of her own.

Maria nodded to this, but she already knew it wasn't true. She and Johnny had thanked him for all his help, and then left-but not before Johnny parted with the keys to 'Torch-3'.

"You wanna order pizza for dinner?" Johnny asked Maria, he'd calmed down form his ordeal.

Maria shrugged, "If you want, I'm, not hungry…" she said down heartedly.

"Hey, cheer up, it's not all bad," he said playfully punching her arm.

Maria gave no reaction, "It's easy for you to say…" she said sadly and quietly for the driver wouldn't hear, "You're not the one going crazy…" She glared at him briefly, then turned to look out the window.

It had started to rain, Maria felt nature was being kind for a change.

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When the two had arrived back at the Baxter building, they found Ben, Alicia, Reed and Sue sitting in the kitchen eating pizza.

"Great minds think alike!" Johnny observed, reaching for some peperoni.

"We got a spicy chicken one for you sweetie," Ben said to his daughter who was standing in the door way.

"Maybe later…" she said. "Can I borrow you?" she asked him, ignoring the confused look on Johnny's face.

"Sure," came the reply, and Ben excused himself to follow his daughter. She shut the door to her room, and gestured to the bed for him to sit. The springs groaned under his weight, but they both ignored it, and she sat down beside him. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.

She was silent for a while, "Is…" she stuttered a little, "Is… there… a history… Mental Illness in the family?" she asked slowly.

Ben looked surprised, he was certain she was going to mention the accident, but she didn't. Instead, she asked a question that sent fear into him. He coughed, "Why do you ask?"

"No fair answering a question with a question," she said a little annoyed.

Ben smiled, his brother-Maria's real father-used to get so wound up when he did it to him. "No sweetie, there isn't…" he said.

Maria nodded, "Not even Mom's?" he asked, her voice came out weak.

Ben shook his head, "No…" it wasn't a total lie, it wasn't even a bit of a lie. There wasn't any, but still he knew more than he was letting on, but he need to know more about what Maria knew. "Maria," he said seriously, "What's this about?" he asked.

Maria was silent, she hadn't told a single person what was going on with her. He'd kept it a secret for the longest of times, been would make three in total, and in the same day. She took a deep breath and recited the whole thing to him.

Ben was silent throughout the narration of her tale, it sounded familiar, painfully familiar. He looked up when she mentioned she'd told Johnny, and tears sprang to his eyes when she accounted the hospital visit the two made. He felt a jealousy towards Johnny as he was the one she chose to confide in, and he was the one who took her to the hospital. Ben was her father, he should have been the one to help her though her bad times, he should have the shoulder that soaked up her tears, not Johnny.

Silence followed her explanation, "So, he says it's your subconscious?" Ben asked finally.

Maria nodded, still she held off telling him she knew he was wrong. The look of sadness on his face was to much for her, he'd be more upset if she told him the truth. What she'd told him would do for now.

Ben pulled Maria towards him, and held her tightly, or as tightly as he could without crushing her. She'd hurt her ribs the first time he hugged her after the DNA alteration, he'd learnt not to do it so hard now.

They stayed like that for a while, before Ben's stomach rumbled, "I could use some more pizza," he said to her, taking her hand and leading her back to the kitchen.

Maria smiled, but restrained herself from saying 'typical,' instead she just said "Me too."

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End of Chapter

A/n no-one has ghuessed who the tribute is too. It is really staring you in the face (and no, it's not Sam from Supernatural to the person who e-mail me, he's a pathetic excuse for a man... this guy is a real 'hero'!) no more clues. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, so please don't sue me.

A/n I have been trying tp update this since Tuesday, but wouldn't let me, FINALLY! oh yeah, bad word in this chappy. Aplogies for the spelling of Alicia's name, my spellcheck for soem reason likes to change it, and I don't alwyas pick up the changes to change it back from 'Alice'.

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After the six of them finished their pizza's, Maria went to her room to check her e-mails, which she tried to do once a week.

When Ben made sure she was safely out of ear shot, he turned to Johnny. The young man braced himself, there a little tension after the father and daughter re-entered the kitchen, Johnny didn't want to get an ear bashing from Ben, and he was surprised when Ben did speak to him. "What are your plans for the evening?" he asked.

Johnny stared at him at first and didn't say anything, "Umm…" he began, "Thinking about going to a club or something," he said.

Ben nodded, aware of the confused looks he was receiving from all angles, "Can you take her?" he asked, 'her' being Maria.

Johnny nodded, "Sure," he said, "Why?" he then asked.

"Well, we need to discuss something," he said, "But don't want her knowing what about," he said, hoping his tone told him to just do as he was asked, without asking questions.

But, Johnny being ignorant, he asked "What?"

Ben glared at him, "Grown up stuff," he said sarcastically, his feeling still smarted from the fact he knew about Maria before he did.

Johnny nodded, "Ok, I'll go tell her to get ready," he said taking the hint this time.

When he the left the room, Ben turned back to face the others. "What's going on?" Sue asked.

Ben swallowed the lump that was slowly forming in his throat. "He was right," he said, "The bastard was telling the truth," he said bitterly.

Alicia moved her hand and placed it on Ben's arm, "Her grandfather?" she asked slowly, Ben nodded. "Did you tell her?" she asked, Ben shook his head. "Why not?" she demanded.

Ben shrugged, "I need to talk to him first," he said. "I'll call him as soon as the two of them leave."

There was a short silence before Sue spoke, "Ben," she said, "Why were you so blunt with my brother?" she enquired.

Ben looked at her, "Because she told him and not me," he said, knowing it was useless lying to her, she could tell with him, she always could.

"Hey dad, I'm going out with Johnny, that ok?" she asked.

Ben took a deep breath and turned to face her, forcing a smile, "Sure, just be careful, ok?" he said. He wasn't really used to her spending so much time away, she hadn't really left her room for the six months since the Fantastic Four were born.

"We won't stay out too late," she promised kissing the top of his head, "See you guys!" she waved and left. Johnny, who was standing behind her saluted and followed her out.

After they were safely gone, Ben announced "I'm going to call the bastard…"


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimers: Same old, same old… I don't own the F4 characters, if I did then I wouldn't be working in a supermarket for peanuts, would I?

A/n Here's a technique I tried unsuccessfully once upon a time, so I'm giving it another go…

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Maria sat up in her bed, she felt the pain searing through her skull distorting her vision completely, and making way for images only her mind could conceive. She reached gripping her heard with her hands as if to keep it together in case it exploded. She wandered if this is what a stroke felt like, she thought she was dying, and the images she was seeing was her life flashing before her eyes.

But what she saw was her Reed, he had never been a big part of her life, but he was to her father. Why was she seeing him? Or Sue for that matter? She was with Victor Von Doom, a face she also saw, but she'd only met him a few times. Her father, Ben, made sense, but she couldn't understand why she saw him, and not her real father, or her mother. She was dying, surely she should be seeing them also? Johnny made sense, he was her best friend, but still this wasn't a part of her life.

The images she saw was of an orange cloud enveloping the five of them, causing them and immense amount of pain, pain she was feeling searing through her skull. They were in a rocket, only they weren't, she had enough control over reality and knew what she was seeing wasn't true. Yes, her father was going into space, he had done it in the past, but he hadn't left yet.

She felt a sudden immense pain and lost the consciousness she was fighting to hold on to.

She later woke up in cold sweat on the floor, the pain was gone. She began to wander if it was real after all, or just an extremely bad, realistic nightmare.

She thought and spoke nothing of it. But she'd never forget the feeling in the pit of her stomach when she sat in front of the monitor safely on Earth watching the horror unfold as the cloud accelerated. She felt like Liv Tyler in 'Armageddon' watching on a screen as her own father sacrificed himself to save the human race. Totally helpless, and silent, with tears making tracks.

She kept it all inside, fearing the unknown and whether or not it would happen again, and if she was going to tell anyone. The other four thought she felt out of place, and disturbed, but the truth was she felt ashamed.

It did happen again, a little over a month later. She felt pain and saw flames in the town centre. She said nothing, and when no occurrence happened within a week, she forgot about it. But then it happened, it was something that could have been avoided, but then could it have been? She didn't know the time, or the place? Neither did she know when the flooding happened in an electrical store was going to happen. Then the boat crashing into the harbour because of high tides. She put it all behind her that it was just coincidence, but then she couldn't just do that, could she?

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Maria rested her head against the window and stared out of it. She found herself doing this a lot lately, wishing she was out there, and not where she was. Where she was, she had no idea, somewhere in between New York and New Orleans, that much she knew. She glanced at her watch, she'd caught the 11pm train, and she'd heard the clock strike at 10.45 just after she'd stormed out of the club where she was with Johnny. She'd been travelling for half an hour.

Her vision was still slightly blurry with the anger and tears she felt when she'd heard him say those words, "Her dad told me to bring her," he'd said, leading to another guy who had joined them to ask "Did he threaten to clobber you?" Johnny had laughed, and said "Yeah." She could still see the look of blatant shock on his face when he turned and saw her standing behind him with drinks she had bought the two of them. The shock deepened when she poured the drinks over him.

She didn't know what he looked like after that, she'd turned on her heel, and stormed out of the club. She broke into a run soon after she exited, she'd escaped from view by the time Johnny had made it into the slightly smoggy night air.

She didn't know where he was no, and quite frankly she didn't care. She was angry with him, the past two days he'd been like the old Johnny, the way he was before fame changed him. Now she wandered what had changed, was he just acting like he cared, or was he just playing up for his groupies? Either way what he'd said was wrong, what he'd said sent knives into her, what he said made her cry the way she was crying now. Why was it that it was only Johnny that could make her cry like this?


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimers: I do not own the F4 characters, if I did then I wouldn't have to write a disclaimer… 

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Reed could see similarities between Maria and the man standing before her. They both had pale skin, skin that would burn and not tan. They both had eyes that reflected the colour of their home land, and both had brown hair. Although the laboratory light illuminated the grey that was showing though. He looked remarkably young for someone so old, but then again he wasn't human, was he?

His name was Patrick, named after the Saint, he was Maria's grandfather. Reed had seen briefly him during his the funeral of his daughter and son in law, but he didn't stay long enough to have respects paid to. In fact he didn't stay long enough to see his grand child.

Ben had rung Patrick to tell him to get his "backside to the Baxter building" if he "ever wanted to see his grandchild again!" Ben was only putting on a front, the truth was as much as he hated the man, he needed Patrick, and the old man knew it.

"So, the symptoms have begun to show?" the old man asked, and Ben nodded, "When did they start?" another question.

Ben closed his eyes and went through the conversation he'd had with his girl, did she tell him when they started? No, he didn't think she did. He looked at Patrick, "She didn't tell me…" he admitted.

Patrick looked scared, "Where is she now?" he demanded.

"With Johnny," Ben replied, "They went to a club an hour ago," he added.

Patrick nodded, "She needs to come back, I need to talk to her. She could have begun having symptoms months ago for all we know!" he exclaimed.

Ben shook his head, and exchanged glances with Reed and Sue who were on his left, Alicia, who has on his right gave his arm a gentle squeeze.

"I'll call Johnny on his cell," Sue said and hurried out of the lab to get her jacket, as her cell was in the pocket.

"What aren't you telling me?" Ben glared at Patrick. In fact he had gained the attention off three of them.

Patrick looked sadly, "When Sarah…" he paused, just the mention of his daughter's name changed the atmosphere in the lab. "When Sarah was driving the car that day," he said referring to the day of the accident, "witnesses said they saw her swerving around on the road, as if to lose control…" he said.

"She was having a vision?" Ben asked slowly.

To his surprise Patrick shook his head, "No, she wasn't," he said. "About a week before, she'd had a vision, she saw the accident…" he paused, "Only in her vision she also saw Maria involved."

Ben felt sick.

"She told me all about it, and I told her I'd help her save Maria…" he said, "I was going to save Mark too, that was the plan," he looked Ben in the eyes. "He was supposed to be with me and Maria too, only somehow he was in the car…" the old man now had tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry…"

Ben nodded, he too had tears forming, so did Reed and Alicia as they listened to him. "Why did Sarah drive if she knew?" he asked.

"The accident didn't kill Sarah," Patrick said, "She had a heart attack."

Ben's eyes widened, "What? How? Wasn't she part demon? Demon's get heart attacks?" he asked quickly.

Patrick shook his head, "She wasn't a demon at that point, shortly after her last vision, we performed some kind of exorcism on her," he said. "The demon part left her body and was destroyed, she became a full human," he paused. "She knew that if what she saw was true, then there'd be tests, and they'd show she was a demon…" a lone tear fell down his cheek. "When her demon had left, her body became susceptible to illness," he said,

Ben nodded to this, not once in the time since he'd adopted Maria did he ever write a sick not for her for school. Cough syrup never touched her lips. "She saw the accident, but she didn't see what caused it…" Ben understood, Patrick nodded.

"Maria can learn to control her visions," Patrick said, "Learn from them like her mother did. She can learn to live with them, instead of living in fear of them… I can teach her that," he said. It was Ben's turn to nod. "If she had a vision and couldn't control it, being in the wrong place and wrong time, it could prove disastrous…" he didn't need to ad the word 'fatal.'

"She'll be safe with Johnny," Reed assured him.

At this particular moment in time, Sue appeared in the doorway of the lab, "She's not with Johnny!" she cried.

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A/n this chapter was also an experiment. I wrote it under the influence of alcohol... not my best... chapter...

question about the sequel. rather it may not be one. i want to do an x-men crossover, rather i am going to do one. it will have maria in it, but shoul i use this mari, or a different maria? (i like the idea of ben having a family member-screw reed, i'm angry with him...lol)


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters.

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"What do you mean 'she's not with Johnny!'" Ben half asked, half shrieked.

Sue shrugged, "They were in the club, and Johnny said something not very nice, as a joke, and Maria didn't see it that way…" she recited what Johnny had told her, "she ran out of the club quickly, but by the time Johnny had reached the exit, she'd gone!" she exclaimed.

"Where is he now?" Alicia asked.

"He's looking for her," Sue said.

Alicia nodded, "What we really need to do is check all the train and bus stations, call cab services to see if someone matching her description has been seen heading to a destination." She paused, "I can feel eyes on me again!" she said, her tone filled with annoyance.

Ben smiled, "It's just you sound so authoritative," she said.

Alicia smiled, "I once volunteered at a missing person's association…" she said, "You don't need to be able to see wit find people," she said somewhat sarcastically as if reading the thoughts of the others.

Ben nodded, "Ok, you guys check the stations and stuff, I'm going to find my daughter!" he said gruffly, storming out of the lab.

The remaining four people were silent, and each winced as they heard Ben slam the door.

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Ben didn't need to pull his coat closer around his body to keep warm, he didn't feel the cold.

He trudged through the streets, ignoring the excited whispers of "It's The Thing," right now, he wasn't 'The Thing,' he was 'The Father,' and looking for his child.

"Ben!" he heard his name being called, and looked around to see where Johnny's voice (for that who owned the voice) was coming from.

He couldn't see anything, but the fire ball he felt on his left shoulder indicated the direction he could be seen. Ben span around, and began furiously moving in his direction.

Johnny was oblivious to the fact Ben was angry, until he found himself flying though the air in a way he hated, out of control. He stifled a cry as he crashed into a building, feeling pain shooting through his back, straight across his torso into his arms and down his legs. He then fell to his knees on the ground.

He came to his senses quick enough 'Flame on' out of Ben's way, until he was at a safe distance. "Ben," he said in a warning tone, "Bad publicity," he said emphasising a crowd that was forming around them.

Ben growled, he didn't care. He was an angry father, and nothing could be worse than that. He ran toward the young man, who was preparing himself to fly again. But, suddenly, Ben found himself unable to move, he glanced down and saw Reed looking up at him.

"Stop," his friend told him, "Come on Ben, calm down," he gently, slowly unwinding his body from around his friend. By the time he'd done this, Sue was with Alicia and Patrick, they'd just come out of the bus. The five stood as a group, with Johnny looking tentatively, wandering if it was safe to approach them. He caught Sue's attention and looked solemnly at her, his sister smiled indicating it was ok, and he walked towards them slowly.

"We should move from here," Sue suggested at news camera's appeared on the scenes. Only God knew how many pictures could already been taken. They all moved silently to the bus, neither spoke, and neither looked at the crowd.

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Back at the Baxter building, the six of them were back in the lab. It was the only room in the place that was big enough to harbour them all without feeling claustrophobic.

"Demon?" Johnny asked in a disbelieving tone. "Yeah right, that's impossible!" he said.

Sue laughed a little, "And you don't burst into flames and fly?" she said citing a sentence Reed had said to her just the day before. Had it really only been yesterday? She couldn't believe, so much had happened in the space of forty-eight hours.

Johnny smiled at his sister, she was right. Anything was possible now, someone could tell him the moon really was made of cheese, and he'd consider it. "So why are we here and not out looking for her?" he asked, but he got no answer. The truth was they didn't know either, they knew they should be out there the city, and not cooped up in the lab.

Perhaps they were afraid to look, as they were afraid what they would find.

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A/n still need suggestsion for the x-men corssover. What Maria do you wanna see? This one, or a normal one? Cos then I know how to end this one :)


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters, any claim I have made was purely in the sense of humour.

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It was almost 1am before Maria finally reached her destination. She got out of the cab and faced the 24 hour diner that was situated about 10 miles outside of New Orleans.

She pushed open the door and looked around, it was empty save for the a truck driver that was sitting drinking coffee, and talking on his mobile in table in the corner.

She walked up to the counter and rang the bell, sitting on a stool while she waited for a worker to arrive. She smiled as she saw a familiar face emerge from the kitchen.

"Marie!" shrieked the dark haired girl, running out from behind the counter and throwing her arms around her friend. "Annie! Come out!" she called loudly into the back.

"What?" a red head girl, who could only be Annie, asked emerging from the stock room. "Oh my God!" she shrieked when she saw Maria, and ran to hug her. "What are you doing her?" she asked.

Maria smiled a sad one, "Right now, I'm gasping for a coffee," she half joked.

Annie smiled, "Of course," she said going to make her one.

The dark haired girl, whose name was Maddie (Matilda), sat on the seat next to her. "You didn't say in your last e-mail you were coming down," she said as Annie placed three coffee cups on the counter and poured them all out some coffee.

Maria shook her head, "No…" she hoped she could get through the sentence without crying, but she couldn't even get to the second word. Tears she'd been holding in for the past two hours could not be contained any longer, and they fell like a waterfall down her face.

Maddie and Annie both moved to comfort their friend. One hugged her, and the other stroked her hair as she cried.

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Maria, Maddy and Annie had been friends for as long as Maria could remember. She had moved from Ireland to Roswell, in New Mexico, when she was five years old, and had met them both on her first day of school. They were inseparable, and only ever had three major fights. One was over a colouring book, another was over Zack Tyler, and the third was over who was going to Stacey Carter's birthday party when Maddie and Annie were invited, and Maria wasn't (Stacey Carter didn't like foreigners). They always called Maria 'Marie' so her name would rhyme with their when they were shortened.

When Maria was ten and her parents were killed, she moved up to New York with her Uncle Ben, before he adopted her. Yet, she still kept in touch with the two girls, visiting them as often as she could and having three way conversations once or twice a week. That was what happened for a few years until they all discovered IM's and e-mail. Staying in touch was easier than it had been.

They listened and comforted her during her rants about how much she hated Debbie, and they were there for her when she father had changed. They never pressed her when she didn't want to talk, and they never pestered her about anything.

Just over a year ago, Maddie and Annie decided that they had, had enough of Roswell, and they had both taken on, buying a train ticket that cost them both $20 each. They'd been inspired by a British film that Maria had sent them. They didn't remember the title, and they didn't care, it had Joseph Fiennes in it, and that's all that counted. The ticket they bought was to New Orleans, and that's where they decided to live. Maria was all set to join them, but then the whole fiasco with Cosmic storm occurred and she felt it wasn't the right time to leave her father. But still, the three kept in touch, e-mailing each other as often as possible, and chatting on the phone now and again.

In fact Maria hadn't been to visit for over six months, and they two weren't prepared to see her so unhappy.

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When Maria's weeping has subsided a little, and the Truck Driver had left (but not before squeezing rubbing Maria's shoulder saying a few words of comfort), did Maria opened up and tell the two of them what happened between her and Johnny on the club.

"You want us to and put him out?" Annia asked, "we got a fire extinguisher," she joked.

"And a hose," Maddie offered, hoping to make their unhappy friend laugh.

But Maria didn't laugh, she just cried some more.

"Awww, can you please stop crying?" Maddie asked, she wasn't used to seeing her this unhappy, and to tell the truth, Maria didn't know of a time when she felt this unhappy.

"I…can't…" she stuttered, "What do you do…when the only person… who can stop you… from crying…is the one who made…you cry to begin with...?" she asked finally.

Maddie and Annie looked at her, neither knew what to say. Then they looked at each other, realising something. "You're in love with Johnny," said the dark haired girl.

Maria just stared at her, "No I'm not," she said quickly.

Maddie smiled, "Yes you do," she said, "Why else would you be here?" she asked. "Apart from the obvious like me and Annie, you ran away…" she said.

Maria shook her head, "No, I just wanted to leave there, get out of the city, away from everything," she said.

"Away from him," Annie pointed out.

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a/n That's settled. I'll use other Maria for the x-men story. I'm kinda excited about it now, but do you want her to have powers? Or just human?


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimers: I don't own the F4 characters.

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Johnny was sitting on the balcony outside Maria's room that overlooked the city. He thought maybe if he stayed in her room she might come back somehow. He remembered when he was little, he used to sit in his mother's study waiting for her to come back, only she never did. He wiped away a tear from his eye, Maria was coming home, he needn't worry.

The sky was dark, yet the city lights made it hazy. He wondered where abouts she was, not in the city. He knew that, the train station had told them a girl matching her description had bought a one way ticket to New Jersey. The station in New Jersey said many girls matching her description had bought a ticket to various destinations. Johnny wandered if maybe they were hookers, Maria certainly didn't look like one, but tonight she was wearing her 'going out' clothes. Then again, they were hardly 'hooker-ish,' tight jeans and halter neck. 'She did look good though', Johnny physically slapped himself, he was not to have thoughts like that about his friend

He thought back to when they first met, it was at some kind of dinner. Ben was there, as was Reed and Sue. Ben had bought a twelve-year-old girl with him, she'd been introduced as Ben's daughter. It had to be explained to Johnny that she was his adopted daughter. He was only thirteen himself, and got confused easily.

Her hair was longer then, it was before the dreaded haircut, which after she tugged at her hair constantly hoping it would grow. She only went in for a trim, but the scissors 'slipped'. Her hair was longer now, not as long as when she was thirteen before she cut it. 'Can't handle the up-keep' she'd smile, and have it trimmed now and again, by a different hair dresser (the same one as Sue to be exact).

He and Maria had bonded quickly, they related easily to each other because they had both lost a mother. Although, Maria had lost both her parents. They liked the same games and both read action books, and both shared a love of Power Rangers. Each were also a little nervous at admitting that due to them being older than most children who liked them. They agreed Tommy was better as the White Ranger than the Green. And what was up with the Alien Rangers?

They were pretty close when they grew up, not in distance, but emotionally. Ben wasn't too keen on Johnny, but he made Maria smile and laugh, and seeing that was good enough for any father.

Johnny smiled to himself thinking about the things they used to do together, then his smile faded as his thoughts drifted to what happened six months ago, when he'd had his DNA 'fundamentally altered.'

He'd let the popularity go to his head for a while, but Maria bought him down to Earth. "They don't care about Johnny Storm," she'd told him, "They only see the Human Torch." He'd asked her "Who do you see?" she'd just smiled at this question, but never answered it.

Maria was weird after that, she avoided him a lot. He didn't know why, but he was slowly beginning to suspect a reason behind it.

He inhaled the cool air, and blew out. He could see his breath in the air. Maria had pointed out you could even see his breath on a hot day, it was one of the few comments she ever made about him. This made him think maybe their friendship wasn't entirely doomed.

His pocket began to vibrate, and then a 'Power Ranger's' theme started playing. It was a little joke the two had, he had 'Lost Galaxy' as his ring tone, and she had 'Wild Force' as hers, yet they had programmed their phones so the theme only played when either one of them phoned.

He quickly grabbed for his phone, "Maria?" he said down the receiver, waiting for her voice to answer.

"No, it's not Maria, it's Maddie," came a different girl's voice.

"Maddie?" Johnny asked confused. He knew who Maddie was, he'd met her a few times with Maria, but why would she have Maria's phone? Then it dawned on him, "Is Maria with you?" he asked.

There was silence on the other end, "Yes," came a voice finally. "Umm… I think you should be here," she said to him.

"Where?" he asked urgently. "Is she ok?" he asked struggling to hide the panic in his voice.

"Just outside New Orleans," she replied, "and yes, she's ok. Well as ok as one can be after being made a fool of…" she said bitterly.

Johnny ignored this, "Just give me the directions and I'll be there," he said.

"'Cape Café'," came the answer, "The first café on the freeway on the Western road… can't miss it," she said.

"Thanks," Johnny said hanging up. He considered telling the others, but realised he could be there in a flash, and bring her home quicker before the others had even arrived. He ran to his room to write a note, and made sure his 'uniform' was properly zipped, before he exited on the balcony and 'Flamed On' on his way to Maria.


End file.
